Addressing Hormone


Imbalances with Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine


By Naomi Skoglund, L.Ac., MSTCM, MS. Ed


in fi nding that acupuncture and herbal medicine can help with hormonal imbalances. A study recently published in the journal Menopause found that approximately half of study participants had a signifi cant reduction in hot fl ashes over an 8-week course of treatment with acupuncture alone1. My own experience in practice indicates that if they had included herbal medicine in that study their success rate might have been even higher.


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Acupuncture and herbal medicine can be great tools to ad- dress hormone imbalances affecting the reproductive system, but also for those involving digestion, sleep quality, immune system function, and chronic pain. One of the reasons that acupuncture and herbal medicine can be so helpful for these conditions is that they stimulate the body’s own healing mechanisms. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are a part of a medical system called Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) that also includes nutri- tional therapy, cupping, and tuina massage. A foundational con- cept in TEAM is that of bringing the body into balance so the body can heal itself. When we holistically treat patients for one symp- tom, like my hip pain patient, they often fi nd that other symptoms start to resolve as well.


Treating The Whole Body TEAM practitioners don’t just treat a symptom. We try to get to the root cause of the symptom by looking at all the functions of the body to understand where the normal physiology is blocked. When we address these underlying imbalances, symptoms often start to change and improve. The connections between symptoms and root causes can be surprising to those of us who grew up with a more Western approach, which tends to compartmentalize the body. Would you think that anxiety could have anything to do with constipation? Or that urinary problems could be related to an inability to sweat? TEAM’s holistic view of the body explains how these symptoms can be linked.


few weeks ago a patient who is seeing me for hip pain said, “I just realized that since starting treatment with you, I can’t remember the last time I had a hot fl ash!”. She’s not alone


In treating infertility, for example, we look at all of the body


functions, such as how well the body is eliminating waste, how much moisture or heat are present, and how well the person is sleeping. Seemingly unrelated symptoms like thirst or constipation may be clues that lead us to address imbalances that ultimately help to even out hormone levels. A study published in 2015 in Re- productive Biomedicine Online reviewed 1231 IVF patient records and found that patients who had received 3 months of “whole-sys- tems” TEAM before their IVF procedure had a signifi cantly higher live birth rate than those who received IVF only or day-of-transfer acupuncture only.


When treating infertility, acupuncture can improve blood


fl ow to the ovaries and uterus, which helps to create more regu- lar ovulation, better follicular development, a better endometrial lining, and less painful periods. A study on women with PCOS, published in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that ovulation frequency was higher in the acupuncture group than in the control group. After 10–13 weeks of intervention, circulating levels of many excess hormones decreased within the acupuncture group and were signifi cantly lower than in the control group. Acupuncture and herbs can also improve sperm quality and quantity, which is a factor for many couples experiencing infertility.


Acupuncture Helps To Alleviate The Effects of Stress Stress is a big factor in hormone dysregulation. Many people


are aware that long-termoverexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt many of the body's processes. The hypo- thalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) is a big part of hormone regulation in the body. Studies have shown that acupuncture helps to relieve the over-excitation of the HPAA from Stress and, partially through the release of beta-endorphins, acupuncture can affect a whole cascade of hormone production. In other words, acupunc- ture helps you get out of ‘fi ght or fl ight’ mode and into ‘rest, digest, & reproduce’ mode. With less cortisol in the bloodstream, the body has a chance to even out other hormones levels. When we say that acupuncture prompts the body to heal itself, this effect is part of what we’re talking about.


26 Essential Living Maine ~ May/June 2017


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